I may be the only one around here who has not seen the ITV drama
Mr. Bates vs The Post Office. I’ve not seen a live TV
programme at home since February 2017 and don’t give TV a thought. No subscription to
any streaming service either - I ditched Amazon Prime when they announced their
33% price increase - but I am tempted to sign up to ITV Hub to see what everyone seems to be talking about.
Despite not seeing the ITV drama I am not entirely unaware of the disgraceful attitude of PO CEO Paula Vennels and her dishonesty has been known
to everyone who follows the news for several years. Only a fool or a criminal would dismiss
the coincidence of a few dozen previously honest people all getting the thieving habit at the same time.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is in trouble for dismissing Alan Bates’ concerns
25 days after the 2010 General Election and his appointment as coalition Post Office Minister. He now says he was
“misled by Post Office bosses”.
Probably he was and he was not the first Minister to assume that his minions would always tell the truth.
Sixty two days after being elected in 1997, Home Secretary Jack Straw assured Daniel Morgan’s brother’s MP that the 1987 axe murder had been
“fully investigated by the Metropolitan Police and the Hampshire Constabulary” and there was no truth in the allegation of police involvement.
It took another 24 years for the truth to be revealed and both the Metropolitan Police AND the Hampshire Constabulary to be officially designated “Institutionally
Corrupt” by the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel.
Realistically Jack Straw could not be expected to re-investigate the Morgan murder himself
and therefore short of meeting the Morgan family personally to hear of their concerns
there was little he could do. But the Post Office case was much easier to
understand and Ed Davey really should have called Alan Bates in for a meeting. His failure to show any common
decency is unfortunately what one has come to expect from politicians. He has no legitimate excuse.
The Daniel Morgan Panel was set up by the much maligned Theresa May who met Daniel Morgan’s
mother in person and was more impressed by her than the senior police officers present.
I have no evidence to support my theory but I have often wondered if Mrs. May’s personal insight into the Morgan murder may have influenced
her lecture to the Police Federation a year later.
